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Monday, September 29, 2008

Impeach Lincoln!

It seems, in the comments below, Neil and I may have realized the impossible - a Materialist and a Christian in civil exchange. Don't tell Sam Harris, who suggests that belief in a "Biblical God [who] consciously directs world events" disqualifies someone for public office.

Harris tells us he is "genuinely unnerved" of late, so let's handle this delicately. It could be downright unsettling were he to learn of George Washington's First Inaugural:

it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe.

if God wills that [the Civil War] continue until... every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword... "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

Well, at least these weren't significant Presidents.

It appears Edward Oakes is right: "Going from Nietzsche to Bertrand Russell to Richard Dawkins and ending with Sam Harris is quite a declension." Thankfully, however, there's Neil.

"The breezy style is often the work of an egocentric, the person who imagines that everything that comes to mind is of general interest and that uninhibited prose creates high spirits and carries the day."
-Strunk & White (p. 73)